A TOTAL OF 19 young people from Wirral were caught out by police and council officers during a crackdown on those dodging bus fares on the way to and from school.

Merseytravel’s revenue protection team, Merseyside police, Happy Al's bus company and Wirral council's anti-social behaviour team and education social welfare service took part in the operation.

They were tackling what has become a repeated issue of non-payment of fares by a number of school children which had been identified by Happy Al's Bus Company on a specific bus route.

The schools to which the young people were travelling had taken steps to address the problems, but the issues continued.

Chris Cullinan, from Happy Al's, added: “The situation became so serious we were considering the discontinuation of the service, which would clearly have had an adverse effect on a large number of law abiding young people. We sincerely hope this operation will in the longer term allow the continuation of the service.”

A high-visibility operation this month saw the officers stop the bus on its route and take the names and addresses of all young people not in possession of a valid ticket.